New York Times Magazine Highlights Education

I’m excited this weekend to receive the tell-tale blue bag on my doorstep — the New York Times, which will be bundled with the Sunday magazine’s Education Issue.

Though I’ll probably read most of the articles online (I linked to the story about teaching with video games on Wednesday), the print issue’s a keeper.

Here’s the lineup:

Questions for Arne Duncan. Deborah Solomon quizzes the U.S. Secretary of Education. “I think every student needs access to technology, and I think technology can be a hugely important vehicle to help level the playing field. Whether it’s in an inner-city school or a rural community, I want those students to have a chance to take A.P. biology and A.P. physics and marine biology.”

Achieving Techno-Literacy. Writer Kevin Kelly describes a year of home-schooling with his eighth-grade son. “Technology helped us learn, but it was not the medium of learning. It was summoned when needed,” he writes.

A Textbook Solution. Elizabeth Weil writes about the evolution of digital textbooks, and how the iPad will likely trounce the Kindle for educational purposes.

Hacks into Hackers. Why journalism schools teach computer science in the curriculum: “Reporters need to know how to manipulate computers in order to tell the stories that matter most to their audiences.”

Drill, Baby, Drill. Virginia Heffernan’s always-entertaining take on tech: “Here’s something I’ve found that makes drilling [learning by rote] not boring: colorful, happy apps. Apps devoted to specific subjects always have the right answers in reserve.”